Ordinary people, extraordinary feats

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, December 24, 2002

EACH WOMAN saw corruption and, risking everything, chose to tell the truth. And it is for this act, one that required old-fashioned character and courage, that Time magazine has honored three whistleblowers as "Persons of the Year."

At another time, such integrity might not have seemed so noteworthy or remarkable. But this past year, Americans witnessed a cascade of scandals and cover-ups that disgraced many of our public and private institutions -- including the FBI, the Catholic Church, Enron and WorldCom.

Coleen Rowley, an FBI agent, had repeatedly begged FBI headquarters to investigate Zacarias Moussaoui, now charged as an accomplice in the attacks of Sept. 11. Her superiors in Washington, however, had ignored her persistent pleas. Later, in a scathing memorandum to FBI Director Robert Mueller, she informed him of the agency's failures and blamed them on "careerism" and a blundering bureaucracy.

Cynthia Cooper, an internal auditor at WorldCom, warned the firm's board of directors about $3.8 billion in accounting irregularities. One month later, the giant corporation declared the largest bankruptcy in U.S. business history.

Sherron Watkins, a vice president of Enron, advised company chairman Kenneth Lay that the huge corporation could implode as a result of fraudulent accounting practices. Soon after, Enron collapsed like a house of cards.

They didn't do it for the fame. Each woman tried to keep her comments confidential. What made them public figures was that their memos were leaked. Until now, moreover, they have shunned the limelight and granted no personal interviews.

They didn't do it because it was easy. Each woman is married and, as the primary breadwinner, risked harming her family. As a whistleblower, moreover, each woman endured the wrath of angry colleagues. "There is a price to be paid, " Cooper told the magazine. "There have been times that I could not stop crying."

They did it because it was their job and because it was the right thing to do.

Nor do they view themselves as heroic. In an interview with Time, Cooper explains why they feel uncomfortable being honored as heroines: "I feel like I did my job." Adds Rowley, "I am repulsed by the idea of thinking that makes me a hero or anything like that."

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In their view, they are ordinary, decent people who work in a culture that has become dangerously indifferent to corruption and cover-ups.

Which is why Time magazine's choice of these brave and dignified women is pitch-perfect. It is, however, a sad commentary on our times that their courage and character makes them stand out, rather than blend in with everyone else.

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